『マハーバーラタ』の窮迫時法・贖罪法 : シャーンティパルヴァンの記事の檢討

Abstract

For the past three thousand years, the Brahmana-varna (Brahmin caste) was the highest caste of the Hindu social hierarchy. Depending on the emergence of heterodox relisions or invasions by foreigners, the Brahmana-varna was subject to various crises during this period. That the Brahmana-varna was able to weather these crises was largely due to the flexibility of their caste. While they hoisted the Four-varna system, which viewed the Brahmana-varna as the highest caste, as an ideal, in reality they did not refuse to compromise those ideals. That such an extemporaneous, expedient way of dealing with reality was possible for the Brahmana-varna was due to (1) Apad-dharma and (2) Prayascitta-dharma. Although the Brahmana were largely determined phenomenally by these two dharmas, it was possible for them to circulate under the guise of Ksatriya or one of the other three varnas. This was possible because these two dharmas informed all structures between the ideals of the Four-varna system and empirical reality itself. Thus the two dharmas, in addition to maintaining the framework of the Four-varna system, played a major role in preserving the Brahmin caste. This paper will investigate the two dharmas in the twelfth chapter of The Mahabharata, entitled, Santiparvan, particularly focusing on the flexible nature of the varna social system, i.e., Hindu society.